Johnson City, Tenn. (Mar. 27, 2002) - East Tennessee State University has announced its 2002 football schedule, which includes 12 regular season games for the first time in school history. The Bucs will play six home games for the first time since 1999 and will also take on North Carolina State of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
ETSU opens the season at North Carolina State on August 31, the earliest the Buccaneers have opened a football season since 1997. ETSU will play its first home game a week later on September 7 against Mars Hill, with the Bucs opening Southern Conference play at home on September 21 against VMI.
"I feel that it is a very challenging schedule," said head football coach Paul Hamilton. "We open with North Carolina State, who played in a bowl game last year, and then certainly with the three I-AA playoff teams in Appalachian State, Furman and Georgia Southern, along with the rest of the Southern Conference, it will be very competitive for us. We're excited about playing six home games this year. We are certainly going to have to be ready to play each week, playing 12 weeks in a row with no open date. But I know that our team is enthused about the opportunities we have playing the quality competition that we are going to face."
East Tennessee State 2002 Football Schedule